“I placed my happy little scarecrow right in front of our picture window one fall. As I walked past, out of the corner of my eye I’d see a looming shape in the vague outline of a person, and it made me jump every time. (Geez, I think they can even train lab mice to anticipate this stuff, but not me. If I return 15 minutes later, I do it again.)

“This year, I placed our manger scene in a new spot: right in front of another window. Joseph is practically life-sized. When it’s daytime and Joseph is not lit up, he looks almost human kneeling beside my window, and every time I walk past that window I get a start. (I have no trouble differentiating him from a human when he is lit up, or I might be worried about myself.)”

BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: We wonder what’s it like for you if you’re both lit up!

In memoriam

Peachy of Cottage Grove: “For the past 13 years, I have been honored to be a part of helping put together the TCF/St. Paul Chapter’s annual candle-lighting remembrance program each year on the second Sunday of December, held in conjunction with The Compassionate Friends’ (TCF) Worldwide Candle Lighting. As Patricia Loder, Executive Director of TCF, writes: ‘The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting unites family and friends around the globe in lighting candles for one hour to honor and remember children who have died at any age from any cause. As candles are lit at 7 p.m. local time, hundreds of thousands of persons commemorate and honor the memory of all children gone too soon. Now believed to be the largest mass candle lighting on the globe, the Worldwide Candle Lighting, a gift to the bereavement community from The Compassionate Friends, creates a virtual 24-hour wave of light as it moves from time zone to time zone. Hundreds of formal candle lighting events are held and thousands of informal candle lightings are conducted in homes as families gather in quiet remembrance of children who have died, but will never be forgotten.’

“Being a part of this beautifully poignant program, filled with peaceful music and pictures of our children, and lighting my candle for my precious daughter, Nina, all these years, has become a holiday highlight for me. It is during that time that I can bring her with me into the Christmas season with others who truly understand the need to remember; who understand that no matter the years since she has been gone from this Earth, she will always be my child and I will always be her mother. Just because we do not see her physically does not mean that she is not still a part of my daily life; I will honor her as long as I live. I will speak her name and pray that others will speak it back to me. The greatest gift you can give to a bereaved mom or dad is to tell them you think of them, too — not just at the holidays, but throughout the year.

“Sadly, at this year’s candle lighting, Greg and I will be adding a second lit candle: one for Nina, and now one for our son/stepson Chris, who died tragically last June. As we did back in the holiday season of 1995, a few short months after Nina died, we struggle to understand why we now have another gaping hole in our hearts for a child no longer with us at Christmas. Just as we have done with Nina, we will keep Chris’s memory alive, and, as time passes, we will focus less on his death and more on the chapters of his life. But, for now, it just plain hurts….

“If you are able, please light a candle at 7 p.m. on Sunday the 9th in memory of all children, siblings, and grandchildren who have died. Help bring some much-needed light into the darkness, if even for an hour, and remember with us.”

Shirts happen

Red’s Offspring, north of St. Paul: “The cover of the catalog featured a T-shirt with a picture of a large bone. This was printed above the bone:

” ‘I Found This

” ‘Humerus’ ”

Oopps!

CA Transplant: “Homophonia?

“In a recent Pioneer Press story about a New York subway tragedy, I learned that ‘the train slammed on its breaks.’ Once again, I’m reminded that a combination of shrinking newspaper budgets and too much reliance on computer spelling checkers has increased the incidence of homophone substitution in the media.

“A call for newspaper writers to make a second proofreading pass through their articles might seem to be in order, but I doubt it will eliminate these common errors. It is the English language that is really at fault, since homophones abound in it, and will always plague writers on tight deadlines.

“Sew, fore those spelling-sensitive former English majors who wood cry out ‘Here! Here!’ too demands four better copy editing, I can only say, ‘They’re their.’ ”

As the bread bakes

Sharon of Roseville: “On Wednesday I started baking my five-minute Artisan Bread and set the timer for 30 minutes. I didn’t want to go up to the loft to read while the bread baked, because I was afraid I would fall asleep and not hear the timer. I stood there for a minute or two wishing that the bread were done and I could go about my daily routine of genealogy research, reading, taking a nap and talking to friends on the phone.

“Reluctantly I decided to clean out my little broom closet in the kitchen. And now that I think about it, I don’t even store my brooms in there. It was full of plastic bags and light bulbs and cleaning supplies.

“The plastic bags came out first. It is amazing how many plastic bags you can scrunch into other plastic bags and into corners on shelves. It was like a mini-storm of plastic bags all over the kitchen table.

“The light bulbs were next, and lo and behold, I found seven little flame-like bulbs for my chandeliers. I was about to buy new ones. Plus three funny-looking light bulbs that I didn’t recognize at all.

“The cleaning supplies were amazing. Three cans of animal spot remover were hidden in back of the two empty bottles of Terro Ant Killer and a spray can of Raid Flying Insect Spray. I had a gallon of CLRÂ® Calcium, Lime and Rust Remover and a gallon of Evapo-Rust Super Safe Rust Remover. Strangely, I don’t ever remember needing to remove rust.

“I found one container of Wright’s Silver Polish Cream and two containers of Tarni-Shield Silver Polish that I picked up at an estate sale to clean a silver set of salad tongs I got at Goodwill.

“There were packets of scented dust wipes and seven Microfiber Cloths, along with an unopened pack of bright orange ShamWow towels. Just last week I had found nine Microfiber Cloths in the laundry room, plus one more ShamWow.

“I had two boxes of instant Hummingbird Nectar that I got at a garage sale, and I am sure one of the boxes is at least 40 years old. There was plant fertilizer, two rolls of packing tape, a tape gun, and a plastic bin filled with those little plastic Easter eggs and hundreds of pieces of plastic silverware.

“On the bottom of the closet, way in the back, was an old wire hanger bent out of shape. And then I remembered. Pooh, my favorite cat, used to get his cat toys stuck under the pocket door in the bathroom. He would sit for hours looking under the door, waiting for me to get the hanger and pull out his favorite toys. It’s funny how such simple things can bring back years of memories.

“The timer went off, and the bread was done and perfect. The closet wasn’t finished, but after a slice of warm bread and butter, I felt more up to the task, and when I was done I felt that satisfied feeling you get when you are done with a task that makes your life a little easier.

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